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Fifth Generation (5G)
Why is it in news?
- Jio and Nokia are working on field trials of 5G
Fifth Generation:
- The first generation of networks allowed only mobile voice calls to be made.
- The second generation allowed mobile voice calls as well as sending of short text messages.
- The third generation or 3G network allowed web browsing on mobile devices.
- The fourth generation or 4G networks improved the speed and latency.
- Latency is the time a device takes to communicate with the network.
- The 5G networks will have faster speeds with latency down to between 1-10 milliseconds from 50 milliseconds for 4G networks across the world.
- How 5G works?
(1) All 5G networks chiefly operate on three spectrum bands.
(2) 5G is based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), a method of modulating a digital signal across several different channels to reduce interference.
(3) The low-band spectrum has been proven to have great coverage and works fast even in underground conditions.
(4) However, the maximum speed limit on this band is 100 Mbps.
(5) The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed but has extremely limited network coverage area and penetration capabilities.
(6) Low-band 5G uses a similar frequency range to current 4G cellphones, 600-700 MHz, giving download speeds a little higher than 4G: 30-250 megabits per second (Mbit/s).
(7) Mid-band 5G uses microwaves of 2.5-3.7 GHz, currently allowing speeds of 100-900 Mbit/s, with each cell tower providing service up to several miles in radius.
(8) High-band 5G currently uses frequencies of 25-39 GHz.
(9) 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the industry organization that defines the global specifications for 3G UMTS (including HSPA), 4G LTE, and 5G technologies.